Environment – Page 135 – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Ecologists Shed New Light on Effects of Light Pollution on Wildlife

By Guest PostDecember 3, 2012Environment, Naturealarm calls, animal behaviour, Antarctica, artificial light, asia, common redshank, data, earth, ecologist, electrical lighting, Europe, exeter, feeding habit, forth estuary, full moon, gas flare, grangemouth, light pollution, longannet, marshes, negative effect, nervous birds, oil refinery, power station, ross dwyer, satellite, scotland, sentinel, shorebirds, spring migration, teu hoo, uk coasts, university, us military, wildlife

Light pollution is often associated with negative effects on wildlife. Now, ecologists have found that by mimicking a perpetual full moon, the gas flares and electrical lighting along Scotland’s Forth estuary are helping shorebirds stock up on more food during the winter to fuel their spring migration.

The research is the first to use night-time light data from US military satellites to study animal behaviour.

Coasts and estuaries are among the most rapidly developing areas on Earth. Night-time satellite images of the planet show that except Antarctica, continents are ringed with halos of brightly-lit human development. But coasts are also key wildlife sites. Every year, millions of waterbirds arrive from the Arctic to overwinter on UK coasts, yet scientists remain largely in the dark about how these birds respond to the bright lights of coastal cities and industry. (more…)

Women 16 – 49 at Risk of Multiple Pollutants

By Guest PostDecember 3, 2012Environment, Healthamerican women, body burden, chemical co exposures, childbearing age, environmental exposures, environmental pollutants, pregnant woman

In a new analysis of thousands of U.S. women of childbearing age, Brown University researchers found that most exceeded the median blood level for two or more of three environmental pollutants that could harm brain development of fetuses and babies: lead, mercury, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). (more…)

International Study Provides More Solid Measure of Shrinking in Polar Ice Sheets

By Guest PostNovember 30, 2012Environmentcontinental ice sheets, glaciers in greenland, ice sheet, ice sheet loss, polar ice sheets, sea-level rise, west antarctic

The planet’s two largest ice sheets have been losing ice faster during the past decade, causing widespread confusion and concern. A new international study provides a firmer read on the state of continental ice sheets and how much they are contributing to sea-level rise. (more…)

The Installed Price of Solar Photovoltaic Systems in the U.S. Continues to Decline at a Rapid Pace

By Guest PostNovember 27, 2012Environmentberkeley lab, business process, commercial, customer site, galen barbose, module cost, power system, price, pv, pv module, pv systems, ryan wiser, solar photovoltaic, tracking the sun, united states

Berkeley, CA — The installed price of solar photovoltaic (PV) power systems in the United States fell substantially in 2011 and through the first half of 2012, according to the latest edition of Tracking the Sun, an annual PV cost-tracking report produced by the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab).

The median installed price of residential and commercial PV systems completed in 2011 fell by roughly 11 to 14 percent from the year before, depending on system size, and, in California, prices fell by an additional 3 to 7 percent within the first six months of 2012. These recent installed price reductions are attributable, in large part, to dramatic reductions in PV module prices, which have been falling precipitously since 2008. (more…)

Blame, Responsibility and Demand for Change Following Floods

By Guest PostNovember 27, 2012Environmentclimate change, conor murphy, cumbria, economic disruption, England, events, exeter, extreme weather, galway, governmental failure, heavy flooding, irene lorenzoni, mega storms, Nature, neil adger, north west england, political demand, turbulent weather, tyndall centre, university, western ireland

New research shows concerns about governmental failure to act effectively and fairly in the aftermath of extreme weather events can affect the degree to which residents are willing to protect themselves.

Published in the journal Nature Climate Change, the findings of a team led by scientists at the University could prove key to establishing how society should evolve to cope with more turbulent weather and more frequent mega storms.

The team examined attitudes in Cumbria in north west England and Galway in western Ireland, which were both hit by heavy flooding in November 2009. Record rainfall was recorded in both countries, resulting in a number of deaths, properties being severely damaged and economic disruption. (more…)

Hearty Organisms Discovered in Bitter-Cold Antarctic Brine

By Guest PostNovember 26, 2012Environmentantarctic brine, cryo environment, microbial life, subzero temperature

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Where there’s water there’s life – even in brine beneath 60 feet of Antarctic ice, in permanent darkness and subzero temperatures. (more…)

Climate Dialogue

By Guest PostNovember 19, 2012Environmentclimate authority, climate dialogue, climate patterns, climate scientist, earth climate

Renowned geoscientist Richard Alley shares climate history, predictions

Richard Alley, Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University, appeared at the University of Delaware’s Mitchell Hall on Nov. 8 to discuss his breakthrough findings about abrupt climate changes in Earth’s past and the implications of his research for Earth’s future. (more…)

Fishing for Answers off Fukushima

By Guest PostNovember 19, 2012Environmentcatastrophic damage, cesium, contaminated sediment, contamination, dai ichi, earthquake, fish, fukushima, fukushima prefecture, implication, Japan, japanese coast, japanese public, ken buesseler, maff, marine environment, mitsuo uematsu, northeast, northwest, nuclear power plant, ocean, pacific ocean, public health, radiation, radiation level, radioactive isotope, radionuclides, reactor site, release, seafloor, seaweed, shellfish, tokyo, triple disaster, tsunami, university, world

Japan fisheries data provides a look at how the ocean is faring 18 months after the worst accidental release of radiation to the ocean in history

Japan’s “triple disaster,” as it has become known, began on March 11, 2011, and remains unprecedented in its scope and complexity. To understand the lingering effects and potential public health implications of that chain of events, scientists are turning to a diverse and widespread sentinel in the world’s ocean: fish.

Events on March 11 began with a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, the fourth largest ever recorded. The earthquake in turn spawned a massive 40-foot tsunami that inundated the northeast Japanese coast and resulted in an estimated 20,000 missing or dead. Finally, the wave caused catastrophic damage to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, resulting in the largest accidental release of radiation to the ocean in history, 80 percent of which ended up in the Northwest Pacific Ocean. (more…)

Category Archives: Environment